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Located in Albuquerque, New Mexico, U.S.A. (MOVEMENT THERAPY)

The viola player’s left arm simultaneously supports the viola to level and plays it. With the body of the viola resting on the shoulder, the arm doesn’t have to do much work to support the minimal weight of the instrument – less than two ounces. What I want to do in this section on the left arm of the viola player is remove as much unnecessary work from the left arm as possible. I want to give you an accurate sense of how the left arm does what it does, so that you can have conscious control over the arm.

With the viola floating on the shoulder and “glued” to the neck and jaw, let the bent left arm float up, and the crook of the hand/thumb support the viola to level. The left arm of the violist moves up and down a short neck, and it is important that the viola player recognize that shifting positions on the neck are not big movements of the arm and shoulder. I believe viola players experience these movements as larger than they are, because of how much movement there is in the hands and fingers and playing the notes closest to the bow.

The brachialis (short biceps), shoulder (posterior deltoid), back (latissimus dorsi), and chest (pectoral) move the hand up the neck of the viola, and the triceps (back of upper arm) and shoulder (anterior deltoid) send the hand back down the neck. The hand doesn’t move the arm, the arm moves the hand. The upper arm, shoulder, and torso musculature are incredibly precise in placing the hand, or the violist couldn’t play in tune. If the viola player is totally conscious that it is the upper arm, shoulder, and torso muscles that shift the hand, then she will let these muscles move the arm with freedom, rather than unconsciously trying to limit their range of motion.

As a guitarist, it was an incredible feeling for me to feel how good it felt to have a free left arm move my hand up and down the neck of the instrument with trust. It is a remarkable experience to feel how precise the fingers can be on the viola, when they are placed on the notes by the whole arm and torso, all three being trusted to be incredibly accurate.

Let the fingers curve to the strings and let the palm of the hand be so easy, that the back of the hand has a lateral curve to the shape of the hand. Simply, let the palm and back of the palm curve easily to the strings, so that the little finger can be super-close to the strings. If the violist holds the back of the hand flat and square, she will pull the third and fourth fingers away from the strings.

Position the viola between the right arm and left arm, so that both arms can do their jobs without straining the torso or the arms. Place the instrument where you can bow the fourth string, without straining across the torso. Also, you don’t want to bring the viola so far to the front of the body, that the spiral in the left arm forearm is forced, causing a strain in the left wrist.